Bush reiterates call for immigration overhaul

WilliamL. Watts

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- With the Senate set next week to take up controversial immigration legislation, President Bush urged lawmakers to continue pressing for an overhaul that includes a temporary-worker program.

"We've been addressing our differences in good faith, and we're building consensus," Bush said. "Both Republicans and Democrats understand that successful immigration reform must be bipartisan." Read the address.

The White House and senators from both parties have yet to reach an agreement on the issue, which has served as a political lightning rod. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., agreed Friday to postpone by one day a test vote next week on a Democratic-backed bill that cleared the Senate last year.

Reid agreed to push the vote back until Wednesday to allow further time for negotiations.

News reports said a possible deal would center on legislation aimed at securing the U.S.-Mexico border and establishing a high-tech identification system for immigrant workers. Only then would millions of illegal immigrants be given an opportunity to gain legal status after meeting various criteria and waiting as long as 13 years.

Bush said any final package must include improved border security and hold employers accountable for verifying the legal status of employees. It must also include a temporary-worker program and "must resolve the status of millions of illegal immigrants who are here already, without amnesty and without animosity."

The House and the Senate last year were unable to resolve differences between two very different immigration bills. A House-passed package boosted border enforcement but made no provision for a guest worker program and would have made illegal aliens already in the country felons.

The Senate version also sought to boost border security, but also included provisions for a temporary worker program and would have allowed workers who had been in the country at least five years to one day apply for citizenship without first exiting the country.

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